president barack obama and his family are going to continue the tradition tonight. they'll lighting the national christmas tree a little bit after 5:00, once the big event gets under way. this video from last year's event. we're going to see some changes this year, though. of course, the performers, they're all different. the host this year is actor neil patrick harris. other performers include baby face, the fray, jason mraz, james taylor, just to name a few. we also have a new tree this year. the tree that standard on the ellipse for decades, it was actually destroyed in a wind storm back in 2011. they planted a new tree and that one died of shock, and so the tree that we're going to see here tonight is a new tree planted in october, and again, they're going to be flipping that switch shortly after 5:00 once the performances begin. now, if you have a ticket, and that's key, you have to have a ticket, all of them have been given away at this point. you're going to be allowed to come down and enter through the gates starting at 3:00 this afternoon. keep in mind that